Beacon Mount Beacon overlook
— — the ridge that signalled the river.
Not only on a wall.
“The high ridge above the city of Beacon, on the east side of the Hudson where the Highlands narrow the river. The South Beacon summit reaches about sixteen hundred and ten feet, the highest point in the Highlands. The view from the fire tower runs north past Bannerman's Island and south toward Storm King and West Point. The mountain takes its name from the Revolutionary War signal fires lit along its ridge. from the studio
Beacon Mount Beacon overlook, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Mount Beacon rises directly behind the city of Beacon, in the Hudson Highlands of Dutchess County, about sixty miles north of Manhattan. The ridge has two named summits: North Beacon at roughly fifteen hundred feet, with the restored fire tower, and South Beacon at about sixteen hundred and ten feet, the highest peak in the Highlands. The mountain falls within Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve and is reached on foot from a trailhead on Route 9D. The name dates to the signal fires lit along its ridge during the Revolutionary War to warn the Continental Army of British movements on the river.
The Casino Trail climbs from the Route 9D trailhead up a steep stone staircase that traces the line of the old Mount Beacon Incline Railway, opened in 1902 and closed in 1978. The ascent to the North Beacon fire tower is about a mile and a half one way with roughly twelve hundred feet of gain. The fire tower was restored in 2013 and is open at the discretion of volunteers. Continuing south on the ridge to the South Beacon summit adds another two miles each way, and is the route to the high point.
The view from the fire tower is the reason the ridge holds people. North, the eye reaches past Pollepel Island, where Bannerman's arsenal still stands as a ruin, and on toward Newburgh Bay. South, the Hudson narrows between Storm King and Breakneck Ridge, with the spires of the United States Military Academy at West Point visible on a clear afternoon. East, the Taconics. West, the Shawangunks beyond the river. The ridge runs roughly four miles in total along the eastern shore, and on bright autumn weekends the trailhead lot fills before nine in the morning.